The earth’s magnetic north pole is shifting at a speed of about 30 mph. How does GPS remain accurate while the north pole continues moving?
In: 0
The satellites that broadcast the signals that your GPS device triangulates (essentially) do _not_ shift around like the Earth’s magnetic field. They’re up in space, nothing to affect them in orbit outside of space debris or natural orbit decay (but by the time any of them drift out of orbit really, they’ll be replaced anyway). The physical North Pole of the planet that _their_ coordinate system refers to doesn’t move.
The Earth’s magnetic field is created by all the gooey molten iron in the Earth’s core; its not of consistent composition and it keeps moving around, so the net magnetic field it produces moves as the molton core moves and changes.
Latest Answers